From the crammed streets of New York City, to the tourist-filled city of Paris, cars have been the means of transportation around the globe ever since their creation. The reliance on cars has been an issue too great to ignore, as the environment becomes more polluted and the streets become more dangerous. We must shed light on the dark tunnel that has been blinding our judgement to a brighter future, where pollution is limited and our streets are clean. That future can only be seen with limiting car usage. Therefore, limiting car usage would be advantageous because it would better the environment and it would create a better lifestyle around the world.

First, limiting car usage would be advantageous because it would better the environment. With global warming increasing by the day, any step to reduce pollution and greenhouse gases should be taken, limiting car usage is an essential tool to head in that direction. As a Elisabeth Rosenthal from the New York Times expounded: "Passanger cars are responsible for 12 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in Europe and up to 50 percent in some car-intensive areas in the United States." Clearly cars are extremely harmful to the environment. However there is hope, because once car usage is limited these high numbers can be mitigated everywhere. In fact, in Paris, as Robert Duffer from the Chicago Tribune reported, policies to lower car usage have been taken and have actually worked! In France's capital "motorists with even-numbered license plates were ordered to leave their cars at home or suffer a 22-euro fine. The same would apply to odd-numbered plates the following day." In hopes to reduce carbon emmissions and save the environment, Paris's prayers were answered as the smog cleared enough for the government to remove the ban for odd-numbered plates. Clearly, the pollution reduced due to one factor--limiting car usage. If actions around the world are initiated similar to Paris's plan, then a better environmental future is inevitable. The environmental benefits of reducing car usage are endless. After all we only have one planet, cars should not be the machines to dictate our environmental future.

Moreover, limiting car usage is benefitial because it would create a better lifestyle around the world. Reliance on cars has shaped modern society into a dependent state on oil. However, once that oil runs out, what type of lifestyle will people turn to? Limiting car usage provides this answer through a healthy lifestyle before this day arises. For example, In Bogota, Colombia, as Andrew Selsky from the Seattle Times put it: "the construction of 118 miles of bicycle paths" had been built within Bogota after years of limiting cars. People are shifting their reliance on cars and turning them into productive means of transportation. In fact, rush hour restrictions cut traffic and has led to a rise in parks and shopping districts in Bogota, according to Mr Selsky. Even Carlos Arturo Plaza a businessman in Bogota enthusiastically exclaimed: "It's a good opportunity to take away stress..." as he rode a two seat bicycle with his wife. However, Bogota is not the only place where limiting car usage has been gaining support, the Mobile World Congress has been engaged too! Bill Ford, the executive chairman of the Ford Motor Company laid out his plan where he envisioned a "world in which personal vehicle ownership is impractical or undesriable," (Rosenthal). He believed that "partnering with the telecommunications industry to create cities in which pedestrian, bicycle, private cars, commercial and public transportation traffic are woven into a connected network to save time, conserve resources, lower emission and improve safety" (Rosenthal). If people around the globe are willing to support this movement, especially a chairman for one of the world's largest automotive companies, and partake in this new lifestyle, then limiting car usage must be the way to go. This new lifestyle of riding bikes, walking, and taking public transportation, will mold the traditional transportation mediums, into a more safe and secure one if citizens support this advantageous movement.

It is time the citizens of planet Earth envision the streets of Beijing and the historic city of London, not as images of pollution and car-reliant places, but as clean and healthy ones. The advantages of limiting car usage makes this dream a reality, because this policy betters the environment and creates a better lifestyle around the world. Hopefully word spreads quickly, and everyone, everywhere, knows of the advantages of limiting car usage, because only then, will our future be a bright one.                          